Return of The Creeper
by thementalist2
Summary: Wendy Simms is murdered by an infamous serial killer known as "The Creeper." The Crime Lab calls in the BAU to help catch the killer. But what happens when Grissom and Hotch fall prey to this killer's deadly game?


***A/N: This prologue was inspired by the first look video for CBS's new fall suspense thriller, STALKER. It will air in September 2014. Stars Dylan McDermott (Hostages & American Horror Story) & Maggie Q (Nikita & Divergent.)* **

Wendy Simms was panicking. She was going to meet her boyfriend, Las Vegas Crime Lab Trace Tech David Hodges, and tell him that she had quit her job in Portland, Oregon and was returning to Vegas permanently.

But she couldn't find her car keys.

She discovered that her car was unlocked, which was a bit terrifying. She began to think that someone had stolen her keys. But there was always the chance that she had accidently left them in the car.

She shut the door and began looking for her prize. But, she suddenly looked out the front window and saw a figure standing off in the distance, dangling something from his hands.

Her keys.

She tried to get out of her car, but discovered that the door was locked from the outside. The figure began dumping a clear liquid all over the car. Wendy sniffed the air and realized that the liquid was gasoline.

She reached for her cell phone and began dialing David's number when she spotted the figure walking towards the car, holding something else in his hand.

A lit match.

Wendy got her boyfriend's voicemail, and said a quick goodbye message.

"Hodges, I love you. I'm at my house, in my car. I'm in trouble, send help over here! There's someone with a match! I love-" she began, but the match was thrown onto her car, and it exploded into flames.

Wendy saw the vision of her kissing Hodges goodbye when she left for Portland several years ago.

"I love you, Hodges," was the last thing she said before her world was forever claimed by darkness.

CMCSICMCSI

Hodges paced nervously around his apartment. Wendy was two hours late, and he hadn't received a call from her. He was about to dial his boss when he noticed a voicemail notification on his phone. Opening the voicemail, he was astounded to see who it was from.

Wendy.

He listened to the message and knew that he had to get over to her house immediately. But first, he dialed his boss, Grissom.

"What's up, Hodges?" Grissom asked.

"I think Wendy's in trouble. She left me a voicemail two hours ago saying that a guy with a match was near her. I only saw it now."

"Alright, I'm sending the team over there now."

Five minutes later, Hodges pulled up in front of Wendy's house. He saw her car, which was ablaze.

"Wendy!" Hodges screamed. The fire department and CSIs pulled up a few seconds later.

"Hodges, are you alright?" Grissom asked.

"Not really, because I think Wendy is trapped in the car!"

Finally, 20 minutes later, the fire had been put out. Hodges saw something sitting in the driver's seat that would forever haunt him.

A body with reddish-brown hair burnt badly.

Hodges started crying, thinking that the body in the seat was Wendy. He couldn't live without her, knowing that she was finally back to continue their relationship. He was even going to propose to her in a few weeks since they had been dating for a few years now.

The body was loaded into the coroner's van. Hodges continued crying and DNA Tech Henry Andrews had gone after him to comfort him.

Two hours later, Hodges was called to the conference room because some news needed to be shared with him about the burnt body.

He saw the grim looks on his co-workers' faces and knew that the news would not be good.

"Henry just ran the DNA on our Jane Doe and got a hit," CSI Sara Sidle said.

"I'm so sorry, Hodges, but the body is Wendy's. The cause of death was smoke inhalation," Grissom said.

Hodges ran out of the room angry and upset. He was angry that he had not driven to her house and been there with her when the person with the match was there. He was upset that he would never see his girlfriend again.

Everyone else in the conference room was depressed. Wendy had been such a valuable team member and everyone enjoyed having her in the lab. And now, they would never get to say goodbye.

"I'm going to tell the media tomorrow and hopefully someone will give us a tip on who killed Wendy," Sara said.

"Good idea," Grissom said.

The next day, Sara spoke to some reporters and the rest of the team worked hard to collect evidence. There weren't any prints or DNA other than Wendy's, so forming a suspect list would be very difficult.

"Sara, you need to call the BAU. I think The Creeper is back. He's a serial killer who burns his victims alive in their cars. He's killed 30 people in the course of three years. I have been trying to track this guy down for a long time and I thought that I had identified him a year ago, but the suspect was found burnt alive in his car the next day. This team could be a very useful asset to this lab in solving this case," Grissom said.

The brunette CSI grabbed her cell phone and browsed through her contacts until she came to JJ's name. The two women had been friends since college and they had frequently kept in touch over the years.

***BAU***

Agent Jennifer "JJ" Jareau was sitting at her desk, incredibly bored, when she suddenly heard her cell phone ringing. She smiled once she saw who was calling.

"Sara? How are you?" the blond woman asked.

"I'm doing alright. Listen, one of our ex-lab techs was murdered last night, and my boss thinks that The Creeper is back. He told me to call you, and he was hoping that you would assist us on this case," Sara said.

"I would love to. Let me talk to my boss, and I'll text you once I get a response."

"Thanks JJ. Hopefully, I'll see you soon. Bye."

"Bye, and I hope to see you soon too."

JJ hung up, and walked over to her boss, SSA Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner, who was giving out assignments.

"Boss, I had a friend from Vegas that just called about a murder. Her boss thinks that The Creeper is back. One of their friends was found burnt alive in her car last night. The Crime Lab wants our help in catching this unsub," JJ said.

"Alright, sounds good. Get the team ready, wheels up in an hour," Hotch said, walking back into his office.

Agents Emily Prentiss, David Rossi, Derek Morgan, and Doctor Spencer Reid were all sitting in the break room drinking coffee and laughing. They noticed JJ and offered her a cup of coffee.

"Thanks, I would love some," she said. "We're going to Vegas to help the Crime Lab solve a murder case. They think The Creeper is back."

"I remember him," Rossi said. "One of the most difficult cases I worked on. He still hasn't been caught?"

"I guess not."

"Can we go to some clubs while we're there?" Morgan asked.

Prentiss and Reid burst out laughing.

"Sure, I guess we could do that," JJ said.

"He just really wants to see some strippers," Prentiss said.

Morgan punched Emily's arm.

"Ouch!" she said.

"Why would you say that?" he asked. "It's not funny."

"It kind of is," Rossi remarked. "It's funny because it's true."

Hotch walked into the break room and told the team to go home and pack an overnight bag.

"We'll meet back here in an hour," he said.

"Alright, boss," the team replied.

"And what did I miss that was so funny?"

"Prentiss said that Morgan wants to go see some strippers once we go to Vegas, which is true," Rossi said.

Morgan flushed red, and Hotch started laughing.

"Guys, seriously, it's not funny," Morgan said.

"Yes it is because it's true!" Hotch responded.

An hour had passed, and everyone but Rossi was accounted for.

"Someone call Rossi and tell him to get over here now," Hotch said.

Reid pulled out his phone and dialed his friend, but it just went to voicemail.

"It went to voicemail, Hotch," Reid said.

"You and JJ go over to his house and see if he's going to be long. We can't wait much longer."

Meanwhile, at the Rossi household, the profiler was in bed next to his fiancée, and soon-to-be wife Erin Strauss. He heard his phone buzz and answered the call.

"Rossi," he answered.

The caller was a slightly angry Hotch.

"Rossi, are you coming? We're going to Vegas, and I just sent Reid and JJ to get you," Hotch said.

"SORRY! I got distracted, Strauss came over and I lost track of time. I'll come now," Rossi said.

Hotch hung up, and Rossi sprung out of bed and grabbed his overnight bag.

"I just remembered that I have to go to Vegas for a case. I'm so sorry, I'll make it up to you when I come back," Rossi said, giving Erin a kiss and running out the door.

Once he arrived back at work, he avoided the looks on his co-workers' faces as he took his seat on the plane. He pulled out his pillow and fell asleep for the entire flight so he wouldn't have to face the infamous Hotchner stare.

***Vegas***

CSIs Nick Stokes and Greg Sanders were waiting at the airport for their guests to arrive. It had been 15 minutes past than the scheduled arrival time, so Greg asked the woman behind the counter if the FBI had arrived yet.

"Yes, they just arrived on the private planes runway. You can pick them up at Gate three," the woman said.

"Thank you."

The two CSIs walked over to the gate and saw four men and two women walk out of the plane. Five of them were wearing suits and the last one was wearing a collared shirt and jeans.

"Suits are not the best thing to wear in this weather," Nick said to Greg.

"I agree. Hopefully they brought some t-shirts and shorts."

A couple of minutes later, the six visitors walked into the gate waiting room and looked for any signs of the Crime Lab.

JJ turned her head to the right and saw two men in black vests walking towards them.

"Extremely cute guys, two o'clock!" JJ whispered to Emily.

Both women started laughing.

"You guys the BAU?" the man with the spiky hair asked after he reached them.

"Yes, we are. I'm SSA Aaron Hotchner, but you can call me Hotch. This is my team, SSA Derek Morgan, SSA Emily Prentiss, SSA Jennifer Jareau, SSA David Rossi, and Doctor Spencer Reid," Hotch said.

"You can call me JJ," JJ said.

"I will remember that. I'm CSI Nick Stokes, and this is my partner CSI Greg Sanders," Nick said.

Ten minutes later, the group reached the Crime Lab and Nick spotted his team coming out to greet the profilers.

JJ immediately saw Sara and ran over to give her a hug.

"Sara, so good to see you!" the blond said.

"You too, JJ."

The two teams introduced themselves.

Hotch and Grissom walked down to the morgue to examine Wendy's body.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Hotch said after seeing Wendy.

"Thank you. It's been hard on all of us. She used to be our DNA tech until she quit her job and left to go be with her sister in Portland. A week ago, she said that she was permanently moving back to Vegas. Her death had taken a greater toll on our Trace Tech David Hodges. She was his girlfriend," Grissom said sadly.

"I'm so sorry. I know how you feel. I fell into depression after my ex-wife was murdered by a serial killer. I killed him because he was going to kill my son and I wasn't going to let that happen."

"I'm sorry for your loss."

_Outside the closed morgue door, a cop was eavesdropping on Grissom and Hotch. The cop smiled menacingly because he had known about the murder of Hotch's ex-wife. He also knew about Wendy's murder. _

"_I think the Crime Lab and BAU need to be taught a lesson to not be snooping around in other's business. Just you wait, Grissom, you will never see it coming. Neither will you, Hotch." _

_The cop nonchalantly walked back to the police station. He began to plan something out on his computer, and since he was near the back of the room, no one would suspect anything. He emailed the document he had created on Word to himself, and deleted it off his work computer so no one could see it. Since he was now on his lunch break, he decided to head to the store and pick up a few things. _

_The bottle filled with a clear liquid was the first thing in the shopping basket. The second was two white washcloths. Then, a huge roll of duct tape, and then two sets of handcuffs._

_He checked out the items on a self-checkout machine and quickly put them in a bag so that no one would become suspicious of what he had just bought. _

Back in the Crime Lab, Reid and Nick were reviewing old files of The Creeper's victims. So far, they hadn't been able to figure a connection between them. It seemed to be that the victims were just chosen at random.

Greg and Emily were looking over Wendy's car for any evidence. The only thing they found was her charred purse.

Rossi and Morgan were interviewing Wendy's family members. Her sister had just spoken to her two days ago.

Sara, the assistant supervisor Catherine Willows, and JJ were trying to figure out what happened to Wendy right before she died. Scratch marks had been found on the inside of the car, which meant that she had tried to claw her way out of the car.

Hodges was taking a few days off work because he was too depressed after losing his girlfriend.

Hotch had fallen asleep in the break room due to jet lag, when he suddenly heard his phone buzz. He saw that he had gotten a text from an unknown person.

^Hello, Aaron. You don't know my name, but I know yours. I know where you live, where you work, the names of your family members and co-workers. How's Emily doing? I'm very much aware of your secret crush on her. We will meet very soon, and then you will know who killed Wendy Simms. Because I do. And don't try to trace this message. It's on a burner phone.^

-TC

Hotch immediately headed over to Grissom's office.

"Grissom, I just got a text message from someone named 'TC.' And he or she knows about me. They know my name, where I work, who my co-workers are," Hotch said, handing his phone over.

"I'll see if Hodges can come in."

"That would be great, thanks."

Grissom picked up his phone and dialed Hodges.

"Hello?" the Trace Tech asked.

"Hodges, it's Grissom. Sorry to bother you on your time off, but there's something important I need you to do. Can you come into the Lab for a few minutes?"

"Sure, I can come in. Will I be allowed to go home after this?"

"Yes, you can. I'm also extending your work-free time through the weekend. You can come in on Monday."

"Thanks boss, I'll be in a few."

Five minutes later, Hodges walked into work and immediately headed to his lab. Grissom came in with Hotch.

"Hodges, this is BAU SSA Aaron Hotchner, but he prefers to be called Hotch. He received a text from someone named 'TC' and I'm getting the feeling that TC stands for The Creeper. Can you see if you can find anything from this text?"

"Sure, Grissom, I can do that. And nice to meet you, Hotch," Hodges said, taking the profiler's phone from his boss.

"Nice to meet you too, Hodges, and I'm sorry for your loss," Hotch replied.

"Thanks. It's been a really tough day for me. And I was going to ask her to marry in a couple of weeks."

"I'm really sorry. I know what you're feeling. I lost someone really close to me too."

"What happened?"

"It was my ex-wife. She was murdered by a serial killer a few years ago. He was going to kill my son, and I wasn't going to let that happen."

"I'm sorry for your loss too."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome, and I will get working on that text."

Hotch and Grissom left the room, leaving Hodges to work in the peace and quiet of his lab. He was unaware that his lab had been bugged.

_The cop was sitting at his computer, busy reading over the document that he had typed earlier in the day. He was also watching Hodges work away on the text message. The hidden camera in the lab was connected to the cop's home computer, so now, Hodges would be watched twenty-four hours a day. _

"_Just a little longer until my plan is complete," the cop said to himself menacingly. "And then, I will be victorious." _

Meanwhile, the Trace Tech had spent almost two hours working away on the text message. Whoever had sent it was very good at keeping themselves hidden.

Grissom walked into the lab and told Hodges that he could go home.

"Did you find anything? Because Hotch does need his phone for tomorrow and needs to charge it," the boss asked.

"No, unfortunately. Whoever sent this is very good at hiding themselves. I couldn't find a single piece of evidence."

"It's ok, Hodges, you worked hard enough today. You can go home for the rest of the week and the weekend. I will call or text you if anything changes."

"Thanks, boss, I'll see you Monday."

"See you Monday."

Hodges walked out of his office and headed out to his car, but suddenly was getting the feeling that he was being watched. He looked around the parking lot, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. That was strange, because this was Sin City. There was always something out of the ordinary.

Grissom ran the daily check on the Lab before he left. Seeing that the team was gone, he locked up the Lab. However, he was getting the "being watched" feeling. It was seven in the morning, crimes that he investigated happened during the night. Dayshift cars were pulling into the parking lot.

Grissom's phone buzzed. He opened it, and was astounded to see that the text was almost the same as the one that Hotch received.

^Hello Grissom. Bet you're wondering who sent you the text. Well, anyway, I will get to the point. I know where you live, where you work. I know all about your personal life. It's kind of creepy that you married a woman who's fifteen years younger than you. How is Sara, by the way? How's your mother? We will meet very soon. I AM ALWAYS WATCHING YOU.^

-TC

Grissom dialed Hotch after reading the text.

"Hotchner," the profiler said sleepily.

"Hotch, it's Grissom. I got a text message from a TC. I think it's the same person who texted you. Whoever this person is knows about Sara. The brunette that's friends with JJ. That's my wife and the creep knows about our relationship."

"I'm going to do whatever it takes to find this guy. And then I will kill him."

"I'll finish him off for you."

"Thanks."

"I'll let you get back to sleep, and I will see you tonight."

"See you tonight."

Little did they know that in less than 24 hours, their worlds would forever be turned upside down.

Everyone had a peaceful sleep and arrived on time to work the next evening. Everyone except for Grissom.

The minutes started turning into an hour. Both teams were starting to become increasingly worried for him.

Meanwhile, about an hour away from the Lab, Grissom awoke in a cold, dark room. His hands were cuffed above him and his mouth was covered with duct tape. He had no idea how long he had been unconscious for. A man walked in, holding a gun. Seeing that gun brought back the memory of how he made it to this room…

**Two hours ago: **

**Grissom pulled into the Lab's parking lot. He spotted Nick's blue SUV, Greg's silver Toyota, David's red Nissan, and Catherine's green Hyundai. He grabbed his ID and locked his car as he headed towards the Lab. But he failed to notice that someone was hiding behind his car, holding a cloth in his hand. **

**As Grissom headed towards work, a hand came out of nowhere and clamped the cloth over his mouth. He tried to fight back, but the chloroform quickly took effect and he went limp in his abductor's arms. **

**The unknown person dragged an unconscious Grissom towards his car, secured his wrists with zip-ties and covered his mouth with tape. The man, making sure no one had seen his crime, quickly started the car and was out of the parking lot in less than a minute. **

Present day:

"Good, you're awake," the man said. "I'm glad you are, because I think the Crime Lab needs to be taught a lesson to not be snooping around in other people's business. And soon, the BAU will learn the same thing."

Grissom was absolutely terrified. He had never been in this kind of situation before. He realized that he was looking into the eyes of The Creeper.

"No one will know it's me. Since I'm a cop, I will have an alibi. No one will even come looking for you. Once I'm finished with you and Aaron Hotchner, I will be victorious. I'll send both of your bodies back to them. They will fall apart and I'll watch them grieve."

Grissom huddled into the corner as far back as he could. He was scared of this man. What worried him the most was the fact that no one would suspect that this man was a serial killer and kidnapper. Until it was too late.

"I've been waiting for this moment ever since the BAU set foot in the Lab. Did you call them? Oh, right, you can't talk."

The cop roughly ripped off the tape, and Grissom just glared at him.

"I'm not telling you anything!" the boss snapped.

"Oh, you will. Once I'm finished with you, you will just tell me everything, because you'll be in too much pain."

He left the room and came back a couple minutes later with a cattle prod. He then shocked Grissom in the side with the weapon.

"DID YOU CALL THEM?" The Creeper demanded.

"I'm not saying a word," Grissom snapped.

The Creeper turned up the pain setting several more notches, and continued to shock him.

Grissom began to scream in pain every time the prod touched him. It felt like someone had just dumped hydrochloric acid on him.

"I WANT TO KNOW WHO CALLED THE BAU!" The Creeper snapped, turning up the pain setting even more.

Grissom screamed louder than ever before and passed out from the stinging pain in his side.

"No, darn it! You can't possibly be dead yet."

The cop ran into another room and came back with a syringe.

"This should do," he said, injecting adrenaline into Grissom's chest. The entomologist woke up immediately.

"Your heart can only take so much adrenaline before it gives out. NOW, I'M NOT GOING TO ASK YOU AGAIN. WHO CALLED THE BAU?"

"FINE! I told Sara to call them. And both teams will probably now by now that I'm missing. They will never stop looking for you. And then you're going to be spending the rest of your life in a prison cell."

"Yeah, like that's going to happen. You and Hotchner will die first. Then they can kill me. But I want you to feel the pain that I felt when I lost my wife to your friend Jim Brass. He killed her and now I'm going to kill you."

"What did Aaron do to you?"

"David Rossi was there at her murder scene. He didn't help her at all, and he could have saved her. But instead, he chose not to. So now, he will pay for his errors. Anyway, enough of this little talk. We need to have a conversation with Brass, so let's give him a call, shall we?"

Grissom didn't say a word.

The Creeper took out a burner phone and dialed Brass.

The dial tone was heard…

*Crime Lab*

Brass was sitting in the conference room, awaiting any news on Grissom, when he heard his phone ring. He saw that the number was unknown.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Jim Brass. Never in a million years would I even think about hearing your voice again," an unfamiliar voice said.

"Who is this?"

"Your worst nightmare. And I have something of yours."

"What are you talking about?"

"Brass!" someone's voice shouted.

The detective was speechless.

"See? I do you have something that belongs to you. You want him back, don't you? Well, sorry, but that's not going to happen."

"Let me talk to my husband!" Sara snapped into the phone. It had been put on speaker, and both the Nightshift team and BAU team could hear every word. Hotch's hands were clenched into fists, wanting to murder the creep right now. He already killed one of the Crime Lab's members, and he could possibly kill another.

"Yes, that must be Sara. Grissom's pretty little wife. Sorry, but the answer is no," The Creeper taunted.

"Leave her out of this! Do whatever you want to me, but leave my wife alone!" Grissom shouted at his abductor.

"Not another word out of you."

The sound of duct tape being ripped off was heard. The Creeper had put a piece of tape over Grissom's mouth, preventing him from screaming any more.

"If you hadn't killed my wife, Brass, then none of this would have happened. But now you will pay for your mistakes. I hope you will learn your lesson after you hear the sound of your consequences."

The tape was ripped off, and the sound of electricity was heard.

Grissom screamed in pain.

"What did you just do to him?" Brass demanded.

"What do you think? I shocked him with a Taser. Now, please excuse me, I have some things to care of. I will contact you again."

The line went dead, and Brass was very angry.

"That guy will not spend one day in a prison cell because when we find him, I will break his freaking neck."

"I'll burn him with a blowtorch first," Rossi said. "Then he will feel the pain that his victims felt just before they died."

"Sounds good, and then I will dump some acid on him before I break his neck. I will get justice for Wendy. She was a friend, and she will never be forgotten."

Meanwhile, Grissom was trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his side. His hands and shoulders were beginning to ache from being held above his head.

The Creeper was grabbing his car keys and heading towards the front door of the house.

"I'm going out for a couple of hours, and I will be returning with a friend," he said.

An hour later, he arrived at the LVPD. He pulled out a remote control and pressed a button.

Pulling on a gas mask, he headed into work and began looking for his target.

After opening the door, he saw that people were yawning and beginning to fall unconscious onto the floor.

He headed towards the conference room and saw the BAU members starting to feel the effects of the sleeping gas.

He walked into the room and saw Hotch struggling to stay awake.

The profiler saw someone standing off in the distance wearing a mask. He saw his gun sitting on the table and tried to reach for it, but saw the fate of his team. Everyone had gone unconscious.

"Someone...help…" Hotch muttered, continuing to try and keep himself awake.

The figure walked closer to him and snatched the gun right off the table.

"Is something wrong, Agent Hotchner?" the person tauntingly asked. "Your vision is incredibly off and you seem off balance."

Hotch was starting to feel the effects of the gas. He grabbed onto the table for support, but felt his hands start to slip away.

"Too bad you'll never see your team again," the person said, pulling out a cloth.

Hotch felt the cloth pressing into his face and immediately was hit with a different smell.

"Chloroform," was the last thing he thought before he fell to the floor, unconscious.

The cop dragged Hotch out to his car and tossed the motionless profiler in the trunk.

The car was out of sight in less than a minute and the cop smiled.

"Mission accomplished," he said to himself as he drove towards home.

***A/N: Should I continue? Leave your thoughts below.* **


End file.
